Attorneys for former neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman will argue for the right to subpoena the social media accounts of Trayvon Martin, while also asking for more time to interview state witnesses in the high-profile murder case.
The requests will be just two of several new pretrial motions for Judge Debra S. Nelson to consider on Friday. It comes two days after she set a tentative June 10 start date for Zimmerman’s trial in the February 26 fatal shooting death of the unarmed 17-year-old African-American that sparked civil rights rallies around the nation.
The 29-year-old Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, claiming self-defense after tracking Martin through a gated community in central Florida town of Sanford.
The Martin family has said he racially profiled the teen.
Attorneys for more than a dozen media organizations, including The Associated Press, will also be on hand to fight efforts by the prosecutor to seal defense subpoenas and other case records.
Zimmerman has insisted that he was attacked by Martin, who was not carrying a weapon and had no criminal record. He faces life in prison if convicted.
Zimmerman had followed Martin despite being told not to do so by a 9-1-1 operator.
The case sparked nationwide outrage, mainly over authorities’ initial reluctance to press charges against Zimmerman, who insists that he acted within his rights under Florida’s controversial Stand Your Ground law.
The controversial edict allows people to use force in self-defense when they perceive a threat without first having to try to flee the threat.
Thirty-two states currently have such laws on the books.
As it stands, accused shooters can ask that their charges be dismissed by a judge before trial on the Stand Your Ground law. Zimmerman’s attorneys are seeking a Stand Your Ground hearing in his defense.
Not surprisingly, the proliferation of Stand Your Ground laws nationwide has coincided with a sharp increase in justifiable-homicide cases.
